Foundry sand conditioning apparatus



Oct. 4, 1938. F B, HENRY 2,132,165

FOUNDRY SAND CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 13, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ml Fl 5 23 8G y 1 a 4 I7 43 8,7 :77

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BY F 3 M w W I ATT'Y fA vENTOFx: Fee 5. Hen/"y, I

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. B. HENRY FOUNDRY SAND CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 13, 1935 Oct. 4, 1938.

ATT'Y F. B. HENRY Oct. 4, 1938.

FOUNDRY SAND CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 VE/Y TOR Fred 5 fienry) Patented Oct. 4, 1938 PATENT OFFICE 2,132,165 FOUNDRY SAND CONDITIONING APPARATUS Fred B. Henry, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application December 13, 1935, Serial No. 54,294

11 Claims.

My invention relates to portable foundry sand conditioning apparatus adapted for use in small foundries or in foundries where complete conditioning plants of the stationary type are not used,

and one of the objects of the invention is the provision of improved and eflicient apparatus for screening foreign material from used foundry sand and aerating the screened sand for re-use in foundry work.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved apparatus for separating cer tain materials and directing the same to convenient locations for efficient handling.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sectional flail for aiding the reduction of large particles of foundry sand into smaller particles.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a grating to separate large size foreign matter from the foundry sand as it is fed to the sand conditioning apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable deflector to guide the sand to a pile or windrow.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations.

being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved portable foundry sand conditioning apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. .4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional elevation of the portable outfit shown in Figs. 1 and 2, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the sectional flail; and

Fig. 7 is a detail taken on the line I, l of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the latching means for the adjustable deflector.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, it will be seen that the portable sand conditioning apparatus comprises a vehicle having the main frame 8 mounted on the rear wheels 9, 9 and the front steering wheel ID. The single front wheel I is mounted on a frame I I having a vertical steering post I2 with a reduced portion l3 journaled in the front bearing l4 at the front end of the main frame 8. The protecting canopy l may be rigidly connected to the frame H and the steering post l2, as shown in Fig. 4. A drawbar l6 pivoted at I! to the steering post I2 is provided at the front end with a pulling handle l8, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Used foundry sand may contain such foreign materials as pieces of metal of various shapes and sizes, refuse, etc., and also caked lumps of sand, and moreover a pile of used foundry sand on the foundry floor may be wet ununiformly at the bottom and therefore not in condition for use until after having been mixed and aerated. When the material from such pile is shoveled into the hopper l9 while the apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is being operated, the foreign material will be transferred continuously to the transverse chute 20, and the usable foundry sand will be directed to the ejector mechanism for aerating and mixing the sand and throwing it along the open bottomed inverted chute 22 out from the rear end of the machine through the atmosphere into a pile remote from the machine.

The hopper I9 is mounted on a supplemental frame 23 which in turn is mounted on the main frame 8 so as to be longitudinally tiltable relatively thereto. Preferably, two pairs of spacedapart springs 24, 24 are mounted on opposite side of the supplemental frame 23. Each of the springs 24 may be retained in place by means of an inverted cup-shaped bracket 25 which is bolted at 26 to the inner wall of the supplemental frame plate 23 in position for the cylindrical boss 21 to project into the upper end of the spring 24. A horizontal bracket 8' projects inwardly from one of the sides of the frame 8 in position to receive the lower end of the spring 24. The head 28 of a bolt 29 may be used as a retaining boss for the lower end of the spring 24. The lower edges of the cup-shaped brackets 25 are spaced suificiently above the bracket plates 8 to permit longitudinal tilting of the supplemental frame 2 3 relatively to the main frame 8.

Secured to the supplemental frame 23 is a hopper 30 located below the screen 3| so as to move bodily therewith. In order to reinforce the screen and keep the same from sagging, a longitudinal bar 32 may be secured at its ends to the upper ends of the hopper 30 midway between the sides of the screen 3|, as shown in Fig. 5.

Welded to the inner side walls of the hopper H! are abutment plates 33, 33 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Longitudinal strips 34, 34 welded to the longitudinal edges of the screen 3| may be located on the horizontal edges 35, 35 of those portions- 36' 36' of the hopper 36 which are located at the sides of the supplemental frame 23.

Retaining plates 36, 36 are provided at their lower edges with beveled extensions 31, 31 which are adapted to engage the upper sides of strips 34, 34. Bolts 38, 38 may be relied on to secure the retaining plates 36 with their upper edges in engagement with the lower edges of the abutment plates 33 and with their lower beveled extensions 31 in engagement with the upper strips 34, thereby not only securing the screen 3| in connection with the supplemental frame 23 but also holding said screen under lateral tension. The longitudinal central bar 32 cooperates with the lateral edge supports to maintain the screen 3| in a horizontal plane during operation.

In order to effect such vibration of the screen 3| as to transfer foreign material or unscreened material rearwardly along the screen 3| to the transverse chute 26, I have provided gyratory vibrating mechanism for the supplemental frame 23.

By referring to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be noted that upper bearing blocks 39, 39 and lower bearing blocks 46, 46are rigidly secured to the main frame 8 at the sides thereof. J ournaled by means of the ball bearings 4| 4| in the fixed bearing blocks 39, 39 are the reduced end portions 42, 42 of the transverse shaft 43. At the inner ends of the reduced extensions 42 are eccentrics, 44 which are journaled by means of the ball bearings 4.5, 45 in the ends of the tubular transverse housing 46, the ends of which are rigidly secured to the side walls of the hopper l9 and to the side walls of the supplemental frame 23.

At the inner ends of the reduced extensions 42 adjacent to the eccentrics 44 are keyed the fly wheels 41, 41 to rotate with the shaft 43. Weights 48 may be detachably connected by means of bolts 56 to either or both of thefly wheels 41 and these weights may be so arranged as to counterbalance the throw or momentum of the supplemental frame and the screen thereon, relatively to the main frame, and thereby lessen the vibration of the main frame 8. v

Spaced below the transverse shaft 43, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is a transverse shaft 52, the ends of which are journaled by means of the ball bearings 53, 53 in the bearing blocks 46, 46.

Keyed to the shaft 52 intermediate the ends thereof are two spiders 54, 54 each having a pair of radial arms 55, 56 to the outer ends of which are detachably connected by means of the bolts 51, 58 the flights 59 and 66, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Mounted at the upper rear portion of the main I 65 and 66 and the V belt 64. The fly wheels 41,

41 may be provided with the canopies 69, 69.

Lubricating connections for the ball bearings 45, 45 may be provided as indicated at 16, 16. Likewise, lubricating connections may be provided for the ball bearings 4|, 4| as indicated at 1|, 1|. Provision may be madefor lubricating ,the ball bearings 53, 53 as indicated at 12, 12.

The armature shaft 62 must be rotatedin a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4, so that the belt 64 will travel in the direction of the arrows 15 because the shafts 43 and 52 must rotate in clockwise directions, as viewed in Fig. 4. This 5 is for the reason that the eccentrics 44 must produce a gyratory movement of the supplemental frame in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, thereby transferring unscreened material or foreign matter rearwardly along the screen 10 3| to the chute 26. That is to say, by rotating the shaft 43 in the direction of the arrow 16, as shown in Fig. 4,"the eccentrics 44 will vibrate the screen 3| by moving the same upwardly and rearwardly thereby throwing the foreign matl5 ter toward the chute 26 in step by step movements.

The shaft 52 must rotate in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 11 on Fig. 4 so as to engage the material and transfer it by im- 20 pact along the upwardly and rearwardly inclined discharge passageway which has a closed top and an open bottom, having an inverted U-sha'pe as shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

The mixture of used sand and foreign matter 25 which is shoveled into the hopper I9, is prevented by the rear wall 16 thereof from going beyond a position back of a plane' extending through the rear portion of the tubular housing 46. To prevent screened material from accumulating on top 30 of the tubular housing 46 a deflecting plate 5| (Fig. 4) is provided to deflect the material therefrom. Thus the screened material passing. through screen 3| will be guided by the hopper 36 including the laterally inclined walls 36' best 35 seen in Fig. 4. The screened material will thus be compelled to slide from the walls of the hopper 36 into the discharge opening in the bottom thereof and consequently the distance which the screened material falls by gravity will be short- 40 ened and its descending velocity decreased. The discharge passageway 22 is in the formof an inverted U-shaped frame or chute detachably bolted at 19-and 86 to the main frame 8. The rotor comprising the spiders 54, 54 and the flights 45 59, 66, is mounted at the rear end portion of the passageway 22 intermediate the ends of the frame 8 and adjacent to the opening 8| through which material is received from the hopper 36. An auxiliary hopper 82 may be mounted on the inverted chute 22, as shown in Fig. 4, not only-to direct the screened material into the upper side of the cylindrical path of the flights 59 and 66, and afford immediate free mixture of air therewith, but also to intercept the gravity fall of some of the material, thereby decreasing its velocity and assuring its being acted upon by the impact of the flights 59 and 66 when in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4. The rotation of the shaft 52 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 should be at such speed as to assure the impacting of substantially all of the material by the flights 59 and 66; However, it is preferred to have the discharge passageway provided with an. open bottom so that such material as is not discharged from the rear end of the machine, may fall on to the floor under the frame 8.

Inasmuch as Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1, looking rearwardly, the trailing face of each of the flights 59, 66, as viewed in 70 Fig. 5, and in Fig. 3, is shown to be V-shaped. The leading face 63 is also V-shaped. When the rotor operates in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4, the leading face 83 moves in the direction of the arrow 11. Since the leading face 83 of each of the flights 59 and 60 is receding or V-shaped when viewed in plan while in a top or bottom position, the screened material will receive such impacts as not only to aerate the same but also to mix the same thoroughly during its discharge from the rear end of the machine. That is to say, since the impact faces of the flights are in intersecting planes, the material will be thrown diagonally across the inverted U-shaped chute from opposite sides, thereby thoroughly mixing or blending the screened sand into a homogeneous mixture by the time it reaches the pile of screened and aerated sand spaced back of the machine.

Adjacentthe discharge end of the inverted chute 22 I preferably provide an adjustable inverted U-shaped deflector pivotally mounted at 9| on the main frame 8 by spaced angle members 92 each of which is provided with a plurality of spaced holes 93 adapted to receive selectively the latch end of an adjusting rod 94, the other end of which is pivoted at 95 to the deflector 90. As best seen in Fig. '7, each of the rods 94 has a right angle end portion 96 which is adapted to be inserted in the selected hole 93, and said rods each carry a sliding block 9! having an extending lip 98 adapted to engage an angle member 92 and to retain the rod 94 locked in the hole 93. It is evident that by sliding the block 91 upwardly along the rod 94, the end portion 96 may be freed and removed from the hole 93.

In addition to the structure already described, it is to be noted that the hopper I9 is provided with a removable preliminary grating screen I00 comprising spaced bars placed on edge and connected at their rear ends to an upwardly extending back board |0|, which grating screen together with the back board |0| as a unit, is removably attached to the hopper I9 by wing nuts and bolts I02. It is evident that this grating screen I00 will perform a rough screening of the foundry sand and will be effective to remove any contained large pieces of foreign matter, such as iron, and any unduly large lumps of caked sand. These large particles will slide by gravity along the grating bars I00 by reason of the inclination shown in Fig. 4 and will drop over the front of the device where they may be readily removed, or if of caked sand, they may be broken up, as with the shovel of the operator. The unscreened material moves forwardly from the grating screen I00, but the unscreened material on the screen 3| moves rearwardly.

In addition, I employ a flail I03, best seen in Figs. 4 and 6 which is formed of flexible material such as fabric or-rubber and is attached at one end to the bottom of the rear wall I8 of the hopper I9. Said flail I03 is slit longitudinally at I04 to form individual sections I05 which may be weighted by blocks I06 of metal or other heavy material bolted thereto. The flail 03 will be effective to reduce any large lumps of sand which pass to the section of screen 3| rearwardly of the wall I8, thus aiding them in passing through said screen 3|, unless irreducible. The size of the particles which may pass under plate I8 may be regulated by regulating the size of I the opening at the lower edge thereof by adjustment of the elevation of the baffle plate 88 which may be secured in adjusted position by bolts 89 seen in Figs. 4 and 5.

Reverting to the hopper structure shown in Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the walls 30', 30' may be supported at their lower portions flailing action independent of the others.

on the housing 46 at the abutments 85, 85 made integral with the housing 46, which in addition act as spacing and centering abutments for the lower portion of the walls 30, 30'.

Inasmuch asthe foundry sand conditioning apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings is relatively small, it may be very readily pulled manually to any desired location in a foundry, and electric connection made at 86 to the motor 6| from any suitable electric power outlet in the foundry, and the motor may be started and stopped by means of the push-button switch 81, shown in Fig. 1. The screen 3| may be readily removed for cleaning or repair or for replacement by a screen of a different mesh. The flights 59 and 60 may be varied in number and each may be removed for repair or replacement. Although the portable conditioning apparatus is particu-' larly adapted to the cleaning and blending of foundry sand, it may have a general application and I therefore prefer to mount the inverted chute 22 for detachment from the frame 8 so that if desired it may be cleaned. In some instances, such as when light material in powdered or desiccated form is to be aerate-d, the screen 3| may be entirely omitted or replaced by a relatively large mesh screen. It should also be noted that if the screen 3| is omitted and the granulated material will flow with suflicient freedom from the bottom of the hopper 30, 30', thebelt 64 may be replaced by one shorter in length and connected between the pulleys 63 and 66 only, so as to cut out the pulley 65. That is to say, when it is not necessary or desirable to vibrate the supplemental frame relatively to the main frame, the pulley 65 may be disconnected from the motor so that only the pulley 66 will be driven in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4. However, as above explained, when the machine is to be used in foundries for reconditioning used foundry sand, I prefer to combine the separating mechanism with the rotor and rely on the latter for its fan action and cutting and impact action to separate the particles of screened sand, and thoroughly aerate and mix or blend the same for re-use in future foundry work.

In the operation of the device, used foundry sand will be fed, as by a hand shovel, to the hopper I9 where it will first be preliminarily screened by the grating I00, which will discharge large foreign matter or caked sand over the front end of the device. The sand passing through grating I00 will be subjected to a vibratory screening action on screen 3| and those particles which do not readily pass through screen 3| will be conveyed by the motion thereof rearwardly. After passing under baffle plate 88, the flail I03 will reduce the reducible portions of the .foundry sand and cause them to pass through screen 3|. The irreducible portions of the sand and foreign matter, such as nails and iron, will pass to trough 20 and discharge at the side of the device.

Inasmuch as the gyratory vibration of the supplemental frame 23 imparts a rearward conveying action to the unscreened material on the screen 3|, it is preferred that the lower sides of the flail sections shall have frictional surfaces for engagement with the unscreened reducible lumps of granular material to assist in disintegrating such lumps for passage through the screen. The more important feature of the flail sections, however, is that each individual section has a true That is to say, the flail sections will fly up intermittently to various distances dependent upon the striking of crushing blows intermittently on the reducible lumps of granular material before reaching the transverse discharge chute 20. When the caked material is easily granulated, the weights I06 may be omitted, but in some instances when additional crushing force is necessary the weights I06 are made larger to secure greater crushing forces on the individual flail sections. Nevertheless, the freedom with which each flail section moves upwardly on its hinge will not interfere with the transfer of the irreducible material to the transverse discharge chute 20.

The sand which passes through the screen 3| will be directed by hopper 3| to auxiliary hopper 82. Plate 5| will also aid in this action and prevent an accumulation of sand on housing 46. The sand received by auxiliary hopper 82 will pass through opening 8! where it will be struck by impellers 59 and 60 which will throw the sand particles rearwardly along chute 22 in crossing pathways, thus mixing, tempering, cutting, blending, aerating and cooling the sand without destroying the bond in the foundry sand by any scraping or raking action. The sand will flow in a stream rearwardly of the machine and form in a pile or windrow. The adjustable deflector 90 may be adjusted to determine the position to which the sand is to be thrown. This particular adjustment is dependent upon the height of the pile being fed, or the distance rearward that it is desired to throw the sand.

The cutting or mixing action insures a homogenous mixture of silica and bond with a complete reduction of any large particles. The tempering, that is, the mixing of the water or moisture with the sand uniformly, is very efliciently carried out with desired uniformity, thus insuring good molds which will not fall, yet which are not too moist in spots. Furthermore, by eliminating the necessity for any raking or scraping action to mix, cut,

temper or blend, the sand, the tendency to destroy bond, incident to raking or scraping, is avoided.

This application is a continuation in part of my prio'r application for a foundry sand conditioning apparatus, Serial No. 747,042, filed Octoher 5th, 1934.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and. I therefore wish not to be restricted'to the-precise construction herein disclosed. g

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a foundry sand conditioning apparatus,

- the combination with 'a frame, of a screen separator carried by said frame, a feed hopper carried by saidframe and positioned above said screen, said hopper extending only part way across said screen with one side wall intermedi-- ate the ends of the screen and positioned thereabove an amount to define a restricting orifice to permit a controlled amount of material to pass thereunder on said screen, a flail attached at one end to said one side wall and extending therefrom away from said hopper and adapted to reduce reducible material which passes under said one side wall and to pass it through said screen, and means for effecting operation of said screen separator.

2. In a foundry sand conditioning apparatus, the combination with a frame, of a screen separator carried by said frame, a feed hopper carried at the front end of said frame above said screen, said hopper having one side wall extending across the screen intermediate its ends havin the bottom thereof positioned above the screen to provide an opening to allow material to pass thereunder, a preliminary screening means carried by said hopper adapted to make a rough separation of foundry sand and foreign matter, an adjustable baflle carried by said one side wall adapted to be adjusted to vary the size of said opening, a flail positioned above said screen and at the rear end thereof adapted to disintegrate reducible lumps of material which pass through said opening and to force the material through said screen while permitting irreducible material to pass over the end of said screen, said flail comprising flexible fabric material formed in weighted strips, and means for eifecting operation of said screened separator.

3. In a foundry sand conditioning apparatus, the combination with a frame, of a screen separator carried by said frame, a feed hopper carried at the front end of said frame above said screen, said hopper having one side wall extending across the screen intermediate its ends having the bottom thereof positioned above the screen to provide an opening to allow material to pass thereunder, an adjustable baffle carried by said one side wall adapted to be adjusted to vary the size of said opening, a flail positioned above said screen and at the rear end thereof adapted to disintegrate reducible lumps of material which pass through said opening and to force the material through said screen while permitting irreducible material to pass over the end of said screen, said flail comprising flexible fabric material formed in weighted strips, and means for vibrating said frame to operatesaid screen separator.

4. In a foundry sand conditioning apparatus, the combination with a frame, of a screen separator carried by said frame, baflle means extending across the screen intermediate its ends having the bottom thereof positioned above the screen to provide an opening to allow material to pass thereunder, a flail positioned above said screen and at the discharge end thereof adapted to disintegrate reducible lumps of material which pass through said opening and to force the material through said screen while permitting irreducible material to pass over the end of said screen, said flail comprising flexible fabric material formed in strips carrying weights, and means for vibrating said frame.

5. In screening apparatus, the combination with a support, of a screen, a discharge chute at the rear end of the screen, mechanism for vibrating said screen with a motion to effect a transfer of unscreened material rearwardly to said discharge chute, a baflie plate mounted over said screen and between the ends thereof to act as a gate to regulate the passage of unscreened material toward said discharge chute, and a flail formed of flexible rubber and weighting means and positioned between said baflie plate and chute to reduce any reducible material and force it through said screen before it reaches said chute.

6. In a screening apparatus, the combination with a frame, of a supplemental frame, a screen mounted on said supplemental frame, a baiiie extending transversely of said screen intermediate its ends having its lower edge slightly spaced above the screen thereby forming a restricting gate through which material passes, a coarse screen at the feed end of said first named screen and on the feed side of said bafile, means constructed and arranged to vibrate said supplemental frame to cause material to pass through and over both of said screens, the material passing through said coarse screen being received by said first named screen for further screening and the larger particles moving along said first named screen under said baffle to the discharge end thereof, and a flail extending from said baiiie toward said discharge end and resting on said screen to disintegrate reducible material on said first named screen.

'7. In screening apparatus, the combination with a'frame, of a screen, means for vibrating said screen with respect to said frame, and a flail positioned above and resting on said screen to disintegrate reducible lumps of material thereon, said flail comprising flexible strips of non-metallic material carrying weights.

8. In screening apparatus, the combination with a screen, of a sectional fabric flail with a weight on each section tending to hold by gravity the sections on the top surface of the screen, means for supporting one end of each section while the other end thereof is free for up and down movement, and means for operating said screen to effect such up and down movement of the free end of said flail sections to crush the reducible material between the flail sections and the screen.

9, In screening apparatus, the combination with a screen, of a flail of flexible rubber material slotted to form sections to facilitate contact with various sizes of lumps of granular material on the screen, mechanism for supporting said flail in yielding contact with the screen, and means for vibrating said screen to secure relative vertical and relative longitudinal movements between the flail and the screen.

10. In screening apparatus, the combination with a screen, of a flail comprising a flexible sheet of friction material slotted to form sections adapted to rest on a portion of said screen and each section individuallyweighted, means for supporting the flail from the unslotted end thereof while said sections rest by gravity on the aforesaid portion of said screen, and means for imparting a gyratory vibration to said screen-to secure transfer of unscreened material along the screen under the flail and a relatively flailing action between,

the weighted flail sections and the screen transversely of the latter to effect disintegration of the reducible material for passage through said screen, and a chute in position to receive from the screen after passing under said flail sections the irreducible material transferred over the screen and off the same.

11. In a foundry sand conditioning apparatus, the combination with a frame, of a screen separator carried by said frame, a primary feed hopper carried at the feed end of said frame above said screen, said hopper having one side wall extending across the screen intermediate its ends having the bottom edge thereof positioned slightly above the screen to provide an opening to allow material to pass thereunder, a flail positioned above said screen at the discharge end thereof outside said hopper adapted to disintegrate reducible lumps of material which pass through said opening to force the material through said screen while permitting irreducible material to pass over the discharge end of said screen, said flail comprising flexible weighted fabric material, and means for operating said screen separator.

FRED B. HENRY. 

